1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for providing a tiled map and display object layer over a network.
2. Introduction
In mapping services available over a network such as the Internet, a user may request over the network a map of a particular geographical location. The request may be forwarded to a mapping server, which will send a map to the user's computer, which may be a laptop or desktop computer, a handheld computer, a cell phone, or another computerized device, where the map may be displayed to the user. Numerous commercial services offer such maps, including Google Maps, Yahoo! Maps, MSN Virtual Earth, and others.
Several of these mapping services have developed mapping APIs (application programming interfaces) which allow additional functionality to be added to the maps. For example, a user may add items of interest to the map, such as push pins pointing to a particular location, or icons illustrating the location of an item on the map. Typically the map itself is sent to the user in what is known as a tile layer, and items added are sent as individual objects, which are overlayed over the tile layer. If a large number of such objects are sent to the users computer, they may overwhelm the memory of the computer, and may not display correctly, particularly if the user is trying to repeatedly view such a map with a large number of objects that are changing their location.